Bleach: How Does “The Fear” Work & How Powerful Is It Really?

As far as the Sternritter goes, Sternritte “F” – “The Fear,” Äs Nödt, is by far one of the most intriguing ones, as well – arguably – the most creepy one (and it’s a tough competition, believe us). Äs Nödt is a peculiar character in many ways, and while his story is as intriguing as anything else, this article is going to be dedicated to his basic power, The Fear, which explains his Schrift. In this article, you’re going to find out what it is and how exactly it works.

Äs Nödt’s power, The Fear, induces crippling fear in his opponents. In its base form, Äs Nödt uses Reichi Thorns to attack his enemies, and if they even graze them, their whole body is consumed by such fear that they are rendered unable to move or react, which makes them easily pray for Äs Nödt. It affects all living beings, and due to the nature of fear, it cannot be blocked or stopped by any barrier, as the Thorns aren’t literally weapons, just a medium to spread The Fear. In its Vollständig form, Tatarforas, Äs Nödt’s The Fear becomes even more powerful, and it is transmitted by simply looking into Äs Nödt.

The rest of this article will be focused on Äs Nödt, the Sternritter “F” – “The Fear,” who had a very important role in the first and second invasions of the Seireitei, especially in relation to Byakuya and Rukia Kuchiki. This article will focus a bit on his story but more on his powers; the story will be told only when we need it to actually explain the powers we are talking about, focusing on his base ability, not his Vollständig. If you’re not fully up-to-date with Bleach, we must warn you that this article will be spoiler-heavy, so be careful how you approach it.

Äs Nödt is a powerful and debilitating technique that cannot, basically, be avoided

If you’ve been a diligent little fan, you’ll know that Äs Nödt is a member of Yhwach’s Sternritter and by far the creepiest one. That is why his Schrift, “F” – “The Fear,” is so befitting, as it perfectly fits his fear-inducing persona. The guy smiling is actually one of the creepier scenes we’ve seen in the Bleach manga and anime. So, Äs Nödt had a very special encounter with Byakuya as he almost killed him, and he later tried to do the same to Rukia, but both of his attempts failed. Still, during these fights, we got a demonstration of his power, The Fear, and we are now going to tell you what it is.

Although they can also physically harm opponents, the main strength of Nödt’s Reishi thorns is in inducing uncontrollable fear in the enemy. Even slight contact with them instills fear and despair in the opponent. The results include losing control over one’s own motions and spiraling into lunacy, which spreads across the victim’s mind and causes the adversary to experience hallucinations of his worst dread.

The victim typically dies from the mental terror they are experiencing, internal organ failure, and/or heart failure. Theoretically, if your own will is exceptionally strong and overcomes fear, you can survive this onslaught by s Nödt but believes that actual terror will eventually break even the strongest will.

A dark purple fluid that acts as a vehicle for the development of fear spreads when the thorns of a body. Objects such as building walls can also be easily penetrated to infiltrate the enemy behind with fear, as seen when Äs claimed that Rukia’s ice wouldn’t help her much.

In its Vollständig form, The Fear is even more dangerous, and it also transforms Nödt into a hideous monstrosity of a creature, but we’ve analyzed Tatarforas in a separate article, so be sure to check it out.

So, now that we’ve seen what The Fear is and how it works – can it be countered? Well, it can. First, there is the method we’ve mentioned above – someone who has a strong enough will (or no fear) could counter The Fear’s effects. Rukia and Byakuya, during his first fight, managed to do it for a while, but they ultimately succumbed to The Fear, just as Nödt predicted they would; this means that it really takes strong willpower, for example, Yamamoto’s (as we know that Yamamoto repelled Nödt with ease when he tried to attack him during the first invasion), to fight it off.

The second way to counter it was introduced by Rukia when she used the true power of her Shikai, Sode no Shirayuki. Namely, if a person is seemingly dead if their body acts like a dead body, The Fear won’t infect it, as fear can affect only those who are alive and can feel fear as an emotion.

Since Rukia’s true Shikai lovered her body temperature to absolute zero, she was basically dead, but she used her Reishi to move and act like she was alive; Nödt’s technique had no effect on her. This means that the revived Arrancar would also probably be immune, as would Mayuri since the guy would probably come up with a way to make himself be dead until he defeated Nödt.

Äs Nödt is immune to his own power, but he is not immune to fear

Now that we have explained absolutely everything The Fear, one interesting question remains: Äs Nödt’s personal relationship with his own power. Usually, the user is immune to their power, but as we’ve seen in the case of Unohana’s or Rukia’s Bankai, these can also be dangerous to the users themselves. Regarding the Sternritter, they were generally immune to their own powers and abilities, and Äs Nödt is not an exception here.

Namely, as we’ve seen, The Fear couldn’t really affect him, but it was not because he was without fear, but probably because he was just immune to his own power, which actually makes, in a way, because Äs Nödt’s own power could kill him easily. (One could argue that Gremmy was not immune to his own power, as he could imagine himself dying, but this is a more complex debate we’ll leave for another article.)

So, now that we have established that Äs Nödt was immune to his own power, but not because he could not feel fear, we have to explain Äs Nödt’s relationship to fear itself. Namely, as a human (in one of the rare backstories provided for a Sternritter), we discovered that Äs Nödt was in a hospital on the brink of death; we don’t know whether he had an accident or was ill, but it seemed that he got hurt somehow. While he was there, in pain, he feared more pain and death, which is what he feared most, but then Yhwach visited him and provided him with a portion of his powers, turning him into a Sternritter.

From that moment on, Äs Nödt lost all fear of death and pain and, as per his own admission, feared only one thing – being scolded by his master, i.e., Yhwach. That was the only thing Äs Nödt feared, and that actually was the essence of his relationship with fear as an emotion.

This was somewhat ironic, but it made him an even more effective villain. The fact that we actually got a short backstory makes Äs Nödt even more special in that aspect, with him definitely standing out among the other Sternritter.